Shafiqur Rahman has urged the government to seek clarification from Dinesh Trivedi, India’s new high commissioner, over his reported remark about “India and Bangladesh becoming one”.

In a post on his verified Facebook page today, the chief of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the leader of the opposition in Parliament said the envoy's comment had come to his attention after Trivedi arrived in Bangladesh yesterday.

Stressing that both countries are sovereign states, he wrote the reported remark could create confusion among the public if left unexplained. “We request our government to address this matter sincerely.”

Shafiqur further said that if Trivedi had intended the statement in its literal sense, “then it is certainly condemnable” and “the issue needs to be clarified”.

Trivedi entered Bangladesh through the Benapole-Petrapole border yesterday and was received by officials from Bangladesh's home ministry, the Indian High Commission and the Benapole Land Port.

He later travelled to Dhaka by road and briefly spoke to journalists before departing.

In April, New Delhi appointed Trivedi, a former Indian railway minister and former BJP legislator from Barrackpore, as India's 18th high commissioner to Bangladesh, succeeding Pranay Verma.

His appointment marked a departure from India's longstanding practice of sending career Indian Foreign Service officers to Dhaka. Trivedi is the first politician to serve as India's high commissioner to Bangladesh since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.